Fire-proof safe



(No Model.)

H. O'. JOHNSON.

FIRE PROOF SAFE.

Fatented'Jnly 1"?, 1883.

M55-mm will F 1 VMTNEESEE N. Pneus. mvmnummr. wnmgmn, n. c;

y UNITED'- STATES,

PATENT ;'Omo11if.1

HENRYVO. JOHNSON, or MnADviLLE, rENNsYLvANm.

FIRE-PROOF SAFE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 281,514, dated .my 17,1853. Y

fo all whom, z't may concern Application filed Mav 16, 1883.

(No model.)

l be of any suitable construction; and B, a gas- Be it known that I,HENRY C. JOHNSON, of L holder of any desired form, provided with oneMeadville, in the county of Crawford and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain Improvements in Fire-Proof Safes and Vaults, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to'fire-proof safes and vaults; and it consists inproviding the same with exterior or exterior and interior refrigenatingapparatus, whereby the same may be protected against fire and heat, ashereinafter fully explained.

The present invention is designed as an improvement upon that for whichLetters Patent were issued to myself and another party, bearing date the18th day of'July, 1882, and numbered 261,461.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a perspective View ofa safe embodying my improvements; Fig. 2, a vertical cross-section ofthesame, and Fig. 3 a perspective view of one form of gas-holder.

Hitherto safes and vaults have been provided with chambers or pipesembedded in their walls and charged with compressed gas, which, upon thefusion of a suitable alloy, was permitted to escape into the open airfor the purpose of poisoning the air, to overcomeburglars or to subdueiiames about the safe or vault. In the patent hereinbefore referred tothe gas-holder was placed within the safeand the gas permitted to escapefrom said holder into the safe upon the fusion of a button or hookhaving a low fusion or melting point, the idea being to cool the safesufficiently to counteract the outside heat of the fire. It is now foundthat, as applied in the patent above referred to, the refrigeratingdevice was not wholly sufficient for the purpose in view-first, becausethe cooling surface was not in the most available or serviceable form,and, secondly, because the walls, becoming heated through and through,would require a large volume of gas to be used and its action to becontinued for a very long time. By the present plan I not only greatlyincrease the effectiveness of the gas in its cooling capacity inside thesafe or vault, but also secure that effect from the outside of the safe,so that the walls cannot become heated as before.

Referring now to the drawings, A represents the safe or vault as awhole, whichmay or more outlets, c, closed or sealed by means of a capor plug, b, of any suitable alloy adapted to fuse or melt at apredetermined temperature. These holders are charged with ahighly-compressed and preferably liquefied gas, carbonic acid gas beingpreferred because of its great compressibility and of its effect uponcombustion, though other gases may obviously be used. The holders Bshould be made of flat form, either a pipe or series of pipes ruimingback and forth in parallel branches, or a thin iiat vessel vcorrugatedor otherwise adapted to fit against a face or wall of the safe or vaultor into the external panels thereof, the latter plan being convenientand desirable because requiring no additional space, or but very little,and affording a convenient means of retaining the holders in place.

The interior of the safe or vault may likewise be furnished withgas-holders, and these, like the outside ones, may be formed of tubes orof fiat or corrugated plates.

It has been ascertained by practical experiA ment that if the liquefiedgas be merely per-V gutted to escape into an open space, and to expandtherein, the refrigerating effect is comparatively slight; but if theAgas-holder be made of such form as to present a large surfaceunobstructed by non conducting surroundings, and this be placed withinthe safe or vault to be cooled, the expansion of the gas within theholder to supply the space left by escaping gas will produce av greatdegree of cold, thus causing the holder to act also as a cooler. Thevent a is made small in order that the gas may escape slowly and in aiine stream, thus causing the iiow to continue for a long time and thecooling action to be correspondingly maintained, the sudden expansion ofthe gas thus liberated absorbing the latent heat and producing anintense degree of cold, which, added to the refrigerating action of theholder itself, as above stated, will keep the safe and its contents socold as for a long time to counteract the effect of external heat.

G indicates an interior gas-holder, essentially like the exterior ones,and designed to be readily inserted or removed at will, being placedeither at the top or bottom or at one IOC or more sides of the safe. Inpractice it will be found well to place the holder at the top of thesafe, as cold naturally descends, the outlet or vent being` advisably atthe middle, and provided with a valve, c, controlled by a fusible plug,block, or nut, (l, outside of the safe, as in the patent above referredto.

In the drawings two forms of gas-holders are shown, either of which maybe employed or replaced by others, provided only that they be made ofconvenient forni for application to the safe, either outside or inside,without materially interfering with the size of the safe or its interiorspace. A flat forni is of course desirable, because requiring,r butlittle room and possessing an extended surface. These holders may beapplied in avariety of Waysas, for instance, being hung` or bolted uponthe walls, slid into grooves, or otherwise; but in all cases it will befound advantageous to make them portable and readily removable forcharging, &c.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim isl. In combinationwith a safe or vault, an 25 exterior gas-holder provided with a vent andsealed with a fusible material, substantially as set forth.

2. In combination with a safe or vault, a flat gas-holder provided witha vent and a 3o fusible seal, adapted to fit upon a wall or face HENRYC. JOHNSON.

Witnesses:

ALBERT MILLER, H. A. LocKWooD.

